Glow in dark accessory for slippers

ABSTRACT

This invention is an improvement in conventional slippers, especially designed to be attached to the upper front sides of conventional slippers to make them easy to find in complete darkness. The glow in dark accessory for slipper comprises a small piece, around one square cent meter of glow in dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic in button forms on its own or in other decorative art forms integrated with other types of materials or fabrics for visual interest. The glow in dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic can contain phosphors such as Zinc Sulfide and Strontium Aluminate or other types of phosphors.

(1) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates to improvement in slippers. The glow in the dark accessories for slippers can be attached to the upper front sides of the slippers to make them easy to find in the darkness. This goal of this invention is to improve the life of millions of ordinary people who have the need to go to bathroom during night time and who at the same time do not wish to turn on lights due to concern for sleep quality. The accessory comprises one small piece of glow in the dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic in button forms or any other decorative art forms.

Description of the Related Art

Currently there are several types of glow in the dark slippers on market. Mainly designed for kids and young people, they belong to the novelty item category. The first type is utilizing LED light technology; these slippers are powered by battery. Many people who use the bathroom often at night time are due to sleep issues, LED light powered slippers work well as novelty products, however they possess a huge problem in that these LED lights produce blue lights and research has concluded that exposure to LED lights during night can suppress melatonin production and further aggravates sleeping problems.

The second type of glow in the dark slippers are also in the category of novelty item. In this case, the glow in the dark fabric paint was used to paint interesting graphic patterns on the slippers, most of the time the graphic patterns are the ones kids love most, such as skeleton, race car and dinosaur. The fabrics for the slippers can be natural or synthetic materials such as cotton, wool or polyester. The glow in the dark fabric paint was painted on the surface of the fabric, and it is inevitable that the glow will fade with time.

As we can see these currently sold on market glow in the dark slippers, are simply not designed for ordinary people who have the utility needs of finding their slippers easily at night time without having to turn on lights. So for majority of this type of users what is needed is to have a luminescent accessory that is not too bright to wake them up completely and disturb their sleep pattern; just enough glow for them to find their slippers easily.

(2) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of this invention is to improve the functions of conventional slippers by attaching a small piece of luminescent accessory to the upper front sides of the slippers, so their users can find the slippers in darkness without having to turn on the lights and have their sleeping disturbed.

Studies have shown that the glow in the dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic with phosphors added to silicon or plastic can provide a soft green light, perfect luminescence, only noticeable in nearly complete darkness, which is exactly what is needed by people. No battery is needed; as long as the glow in the dark silicon or silicon rubber accessory could be charged with sun light or lamp light during the day, it will provide reliable luminescence at night time.

The luminescence in silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic will last forever because the phosphor is mixed into the silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic. And all these materials are very safe to consumer. It can thus be seen that the present invention provides a good solution to the common problems associated with finding slippers during night.

(3) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is perspective view of conventional slippers with glow in dark silicon button and fabric flora pattern as accessory.

FIG. 2 is perspective view of conventional slippers with glow in dark silicon button as accessory

(4) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As we know, all glow in dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic contain phosphors. Phosphors radiate visible light after being exposed to light for a while, and then slowly release their stored energy over time. As they release the energy, they emit small amounts of light, which is seen as an object glowing.

Two types of phosphors that are commonly used in consumer products are Zinc Sulfide and Strontium Aluminate. Strontium Aluminate is newer and has much brighter glow and much longer persistence than Zinc Sulfide does. The glow in dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic accessories that are made with Zinc Sulfide phosphor provide softer green luminescence, are probably preferred by many users who do not need to see bright green light in darkness. On the other hand, it is possible for some users stronger glow is preferred, due to eyesight issues. So in this case Strontium Aluminate should be used as phosphor.

The glow in dark accessory for slippers can take various shapes and sizes. The silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic can be on its own as accessories or be incorporated into the overall design to form visually interesting accessories that look fun and stylish at day time and provide luminescence at night time. The preferred size for the glow in dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic piece could be around one square cent meter, although bigger or smaller sizes also work well. The shapes can be round, square, rectangle or any other shapes. And it can be made into button or rivet for easy attachment to slippers. The buttons can have stainless steel, plastic or other material rims if it fits the overall design.

Quite likely some designer may use the glow in the dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic piece together with other types of decorative materials or fabrics to create interesting and fashionable accessories for slippers. It is not hard to see that the design for the appearance of the overall accessories can be endless. The shapes, sizes, colors and styles of these accessories can vary dramatically to meet variety of aesthetic preferences of different users. Also the styles of the accessories for men's slippers should definitely differ from the styles of the accessories for women's slippers.

In majority of the cases, the upper front sides of the slippers should be the logical places where the accessories could be attached. However some people prefer to have the accessory placed on the upper back side of the slippers, so the accessory will not make strong visual statement during the day time. It does not matter where the luminescent accessories are placed on the slippers, as long as it provides the much needed luminescence in darkness.

With all the options, the preferred embodiment of this invention is simply to have the glow in dark silicon or silicon rubber piece incorporated into the floral pattern accessory, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Also along the same line, the accessory can take the paw print design pattern which is very popular with consumer for many years. Except the glow in dark silicon piece, the rest of the accessory can be made with the same fabric as the slippers such as wool felt or other similar fabrics. The accessories can be sewed to the upper front side of the slippers. Also it is possible that the accessories can be on their own, and then consumer can purchase them separately and bin or clip onto the slippers later on. Definitely all the above discussed styles of the accessories are women's styles.

It is also possible that the glow in dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic piece forms an accessory on its own in some sort of button form. The size, shape and color of these buttons can vary depending on the design criteria; the buttons can have stainless steel, plastic or other material rims or no rim at all. In these cases, buttons are the whole accessories. Definitely these buttons can be viewed as another embodiment of the invention, even though they are completely function-oriented and work well for both men and women, and possibly preferred by men for its simple visual appearance.

In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A Glow in the Dark Accessory for Slippers comprising: one small piece of glow in the dark silicon or silicon rubber or rubber or plastic which contains phosphor in button form on its own or in other decorative form integrated with other types of materials or fabrics on the upper side of the slippers, visible to the users. 